Thursday, February 23, 2012

We found some time to hang up the old farm sign that I talked about in my post about Marlowe's room. I paired it with some similar items that I already had, and I'm pleased with the way that my living room wall has turned out!

Here's the sign from Tony's grandparents' farm. Tony asked his Grandma where the name "Philmar" came from, and she said that it didn't have any real significance; they just needed a name for the cattle records.

I made this "VanHorn" sign about 1 1/2 years ago. It was in our office for a long time (that's why the wall is blue in this photo), and when Tony and I moved our bedroom into the office, I moved it into the living room. But it's been sitting all alone on the wall since then.

Here's the updated living room wall! The "picture frame" is an old window from my parents' house. They had some windows replaced recently, so I rescued a couple of the old ones and put some professional photos of the kids in it. And you can also see the results of nesting when I was pregnant with Marlowe -- lots and lots of throw pillows!

I love the vintage look that the whole collection has. I especially love that every piece has a special significance to our family.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Marlowe (or "Mars", as we have nicknamed her), at 3 months, steals my heart every single day. It's hard to believe three months have passed, and at the same time, it seems like she's always been a part of our family.

Marlowe is easily the happiest baby I have ever known. I have actually leaned over her crib in the dark because I couldn't see her breathing, only to realize that she's wide awake with a huge smile plastered on her face. She smiles easily, for anybody, which makes their day, of course.

Marlowe weighs somewhere around 15 - 16 pounds now, and is making the move into 6 - 9 month clothes. The twins weighed 18 pounds when they turned one year old. :)

Marlowe doesn't really have favorite activities yet, but she spends a lot of time at her activity gym and recently grabbed a hanging butterfly for the first time. Yesterday, she tried out the Johnny Jump-Up for the first time, and seemed to enjoy it!

Looks like we'll have another thumb sucker ... her "method" has evolved since this picture, too.

It's true that parenting one newborn after twins is a total piece of cake, but Marlowe makes it even easier and more enjoyable. Love that youngest child of mine!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Leila Lanie, at 32 months, is our "big" girl. She's almost an inch taller than Hadley (identical twins are often different heights). Leila is our adventurer and extrovert. She's instant friends with anybody she meets. She enjoys playing with other kids and will call anybody close to her age "friend!" -- even from across the grocery store.

Leila knows a lot of words, and like Hadley, is forming them into sentences now. But Leila's sentences are more complex, and I'm often surprised at how well she speaks. A few days ago, she said, "Hadley, that's not Daddy! Daddy's at work!"

Leila likes to spend her time building "stacks" and dressing up. Her block towers can get very high -- I'm usually impressed. And her style ... well ... you can see for yourself. :)

Leila is our natural mother. She calls all of her baby dolls and teddy bears, "Baby Marlowe", and she spends a lot of time feeding them, swaddling them, and putting them down for naps. She also tries to take care of Marlowe. When Marlowe is playing on the floor, Leila will bring blankets and her pacifier to her -- sometimes she's got a huge pile next to Marlowe before I even notice.

The other day, I saw a picture of infant identical twins. One was wearing a shirt that said "I was planned". The other was wearing a shirt that said, "I was a surprise". That's exactly how I feel about our twins. Since Leila was our Baby B (the second one born), I tend to think of her as my "surprise". I'm so glad to have our active, joyful "middle child" in our family.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Haddie Lou, at 32 months, is turning out to be our thinker, marching to the beat of her own drummer. She's more reserved than Leila in social situations, but if she warms up to you, she'll bring you every toy in the toy box: "wook at my toy!"

Hadley's favorite activity is coloring. She spends hours every day at the little table, scribbling away in her coloring books. Right now, there are a lot of squiggly lines, and LOTS of circles. I didn't know that 2 1/2 year olds could learn how to draw circles, so I'm thinking she's gifted! Don't tell me otherwise. :)

Hadley also loves to sing. She has an amazing memory for songs, and sometimes we make requests just to see how many she knows. We're usually surprised.

Hadley, like Leila, has been daytime and naptime potty trained for about a month now, with the exception of some accidents when there's lot of activity and she forgets to tell somebody that she needs to go. I almost quit training Hadley during the first week -- there were so many accidents that I figured she wasn't ready yet. But she kept trying, and now she's doing better than Leila in many ways.

I couldn't ask for a sweeter, quirkier gal to fill the place of "firstborn" in our family. You're a great "big" sister, Had!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Well, we're road weary following a sudden trip to Kansas for three funerals. AND all of my kids have developed pretty yucky colds, so they aren't acting all that wonderfully today. I'm not sure if I can call these outtakes because there aren't any "intakes" (yes, I made that word up), but I'm not going to try again today. Happy Valentine's Day from Hadley, Leila, and Marlowe!

First, Hadley starts crying. Okay, I'll take some practice pictures of Leila and Marlowe while Hadley settles down. But Marlowe is "slouchy" and keeps sliding off the pillow ...

Okay, maybe a change in location will work. Marlowe goes into the Bumbo.

Hadley re-enters the picture, a little splotchy, but ready to give it a shot. Slightly happy ...

... starting to crumble (this is the best one I got) ...

... and commence crying again.

Yeah, I'd feel this way, too, Marlowe. :)

On the bright side, I did manage to get a couple of pictures of Marlowe that are cute. Do you recognize the shirt that she's wearing? It's the same exact shirt that the twins wore two years ago for Valentine's Day. When they were eight months old. And it fits her perfectly at just over three months old. What a chunk.